Ralph Waldo Emerson
' Ralph Waldo Emerson' (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. Tossup Questions # This thinker said that his friend Achille Murat had "consistent atheism." This man criticized a sermon he heard as a child on the last judgement in an essay about adjustment in the universe called "Compensation". He discussed such figures as Goethe, Shakespeare, and Swedenborg in Representative Man. This author of "Nature" believed in an all permeating presence in all living things called the (*) oversoul. This man coined the phrase "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." He gave a speech to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge on the title type of intellectual referred to as "[[The American Scholar|'The American Scholar']] ." For 10 points, name this American transcendentalist author of [[Self-Reliance|'Self-Reliance']] . # This author tells the title flower that "The self-same power that brought me there, brought you" in his poem "The Rhodora." He celebrated a monument depicting a place where "embattled farmers stood" and "fired the shot heard round the world" in his poem "Concord Hymn." He outlined an American philosophy based on spiritual communion with nature and individualism in his essays, which include "Experience," "The Poet," and "[[Self-Reliance|'Self-Reliance']] ." For 10 points, name this mentor of Henry David Thoreau who led the Transcendentalist movement. # The phrase "Nature centers into balls" begins an essay where this writer compares men to the title geometric shapes. In addition to writing "Circles," this writer was a frequent contributor to The Dial. A speech given to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard University in 1837 advocating a break with the traditions of Europe was published as "[[The American Scholar|'The American Scholar']] ." He also wrote an essay inspired by Hinduism, "The Over-Soul." For 10 points, name this Transcendentalist writer of essays such as "[[Self-Reliance|'Self-Reliance']] " and "Nature." # In one essay, this thinker described the world as a "system of concentric circles." One of his works describes "A subtle chain of countless rings" in its opening poem. This author attacked modern Christianity as restraining the spirit in his Divinity School Address. In one speech, this man called for the precepts "Know thyself" and "Study nature" to become one and the same for the title pursuer of knowledge. This man described conformity as an "aversion" to the title virtue of one work, while in another he refers to himself as a "transparent eye-ball". For 10 points, name this transcendentalist who wrote "[[Self-Reliance|'Self-Reliance']] ," "[[The American Scholar|'The American Scholar']] ," and "Nature." # He wrote that "beauty is its own excuse for being" in "The Rhodora" and claimed that "the highest end of government is the culture of man" to argue against property rights. His reading of the Vedas can be seen in a work defining the title concept as "not a faculty, but a light", "The Over-Soul", and he discussed two failures of historical Christianity in his Divinity School Address. In one work, the speaker says "I am nothing; I see all" after using the metaphor of a "transparent eye-ball". Another of his essays decries conformity and "foolish consistency" and advises "Trust thyself". For 10 points, name this transcendentalist philosopher and author of "Nature" and "[[Self-Reliance|'Self-Reliance']] ".